Phil Gingrey: The Weakest Link in the Georgia Delegation

Congress.org recently posted its power rankings of the 534 voting members of Congress (there is a vacancy in the House) and the five non-voting members, ranking members based on seniority, committee/subcommittee assingments, legislative success, and media appearances to promote bills. Our dear friend (*cough*) Phil Gingrey ranked dead last (12th) in the Georgia House delegation and 414th overall in the House, having mostly only a bunch of freshmen, a small minority of second termers, and William "Cold Money" Jefferson to pick on. He even ranks behind all five non-voting members of Congress.

Admittedly, a large part of the reason is the switch in party control, with Gingrey now in the minority, and his realitive lack of seniority (he's only in his third term). However, Gingrey ranks ten spots behind fellow Republican Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (3rd district) and fifteen behind Rep. Tom Price (6th district), even though Gingrey has more seniority than both. Even better, he is ranked next to last (45th out of 46) among the House class of 2002, and even within his own party, Gingrey ranks 178th out of 202 in the House Republican Conference.

All of Gingrey's clout comes from his committee post on the powerful Armed Services Committee and the less powerful Science Committee. But even then, he's next to least on the Armed Services Committee (61st out of 62) and 40th out of 44 on the Science Committee. He has no legislative success and no indirect influence.

It makes you wonder how much he can deliver, to parphrase his slogan, when even Jean "Cowards Cut and Run" Schmidt has more clout than he does. But, hey, at least he's got more clout than the freshmen...for now.

Friday's House Republican Leadership Elections: Enabling the Corrupt

We should all consider ourselves very fortunate that the web of sleaze present Friday's House Republican leadership elections is only metaphorical and not literal because what a tangled web it is. Returning as leader of the House Republicans is John Boehner, elected, apparently, with Phil Gingrey's support. It's also worth noting that our next door neighbor, Tom Price (Sixth District-Cherokee County, North Fulton County, North DeKalb County, East Cobb County), also supported Boehner.

Now, those of you not familiar with Boehner may be scratching your heads and wondering what the big deal is. For starters, you have the corruption issue. You see, one of Mr. Boehner's most imfamous acts was handing out checks from tobacco lobbyists to House members, on the House floor no less. So, the leader of the Republicans in the House of Representatives is a guy who likes to use the floor of the House, not the halls, not the offices, not some dark closet, but the very place where bills are voted on, as a place to turn tricks for tobacco companies.

In fairness to Gingrey, I can't really say based on just this that Phil Gingrey is corrupt based solely on this, but I can say that he is willing to empower those who are either corrupt or really pushing it.

After that, you have the hypocrisy of the whole thing. The Republicans constantly drone on about their religiosity, turning it into a campaign issue (take a look at Phil Gingrey's blog for a look at his "values agenda.") But despite this stated morality, the Republicans in the House, including, again, Phil Gingrey, are all too willing to turn a blind eye to those in the pocket of the tobacco industry, an industry that gains its revenue from sin. Apparently, Phil and the other Republicans are too busy using the Bible to bash gays to realize that I Corinthians 6:19-20 says this:

Know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you,
which you have of God, and you are not your own? For you were bought with a
price: Therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit which are God's.

After spending an entire election season trying desperately to tie any Democratic candidate to Nancy Pelosi, the Republicans have apparently forgotten to watch their own backyard. Bring on the ads tying Republican House candidates to Boehner, the tobacco flunkie.

Welcome to Gingrey Watch

This is the maiden blog post for Gingrey Watch, a project started by yours truly whose goal is to make Phil Gingrey, the current congressman from Georgia's 11th district, unemployed. Eventually, I hope this includes a website that I can better organize the truth about the Gingrey record as well as provide information to voters and prospective candidates.